I rode the STP this past weekend on my Saluki. The STP covers a bit
over 200 miles on mostly beautiful back roads, a few sections of
annoyingly high traffic highways, and one Rail-to-Trail path, from
Seattle to Portland. It's one of the largest rides in the US, with a
limit of 10,000 registered participants. About 20% of the riders do it
in one day, the rest in two days. (Two days for me!) Here's a link to
the ride page on the Cascade Bicycle Club website: <http://cascade.org/EandR/stp/index.cfm
>
A little back-story.
I rode the STP once before in 1996 on my Bridgestone RB-T. That turned
out to be a bit of a disaster, as the ride aggravated an ankle
condition that made it difficult to walk for a few days afterwards,
and ultimately, impossible for me to ride a bicycle without pain for a
long while. After a couple years of failed remedies I ended up giving
up and buying a motorcycle, a path I very much enjoyed for the next
ten or twelve years. Except for losing my favorite form of exercise
and gaining about 40 lbs over a dozen years, and nagging doubts about
a hobby that burned fossil fuels.... A couple years ago though I had a
heart attack, and decided I needed to get back on my bicycle come hell
or high water. Part of the trouble had been the fit of the 59cm RB-T,
which was probably a full size too small for me, and, ahem, a complete
lack of stretching. An MRI of the ankle revealed the physiological
issue--a fused bone, and with new knowledge I fired up the RB-T again,
this time with a Technomic stem, Albatross bars and a tall mountain
bike seatpost--and a stretching regime from the heart attack rehab
folks--and began commuting to work. My circle of motorcycling buddies
ride bicycles as well, and this spring we decided to tackle the STP.
Things conspired, as they sometimes do, to make it time to get out of
motorcycles (More on that: <http://bigbirdcage.blogspot.com/2010/05/selling-my-motorcycle.html
>) and I used some cash from the sale of my last bike to buy the
Saluki, with riding it on the STP in mind.
The Ride
Over all the ride was fantastic. Chilly with a heavy marine layer for
much of both days, with sun burning off the clouds by late afternoon,
so not too hot. I rode with a new friend, and our paces were perfectly
matched. The ride logistics were impressive, with rest stops for food
and water about where you'd want them, and well-stocked with decent
food and barrels of Nuun and water. The first day's ride had what was
purported to be the big climb of the ride, "The Hill", a ~6% climb for
a mile and a half outside of Puyallup onto the plateau. It went way
easier than I'd expected based on the big deal it was made out to be.
The section through the strip-malls of Spanaway was the worst of the
whole ride, in terms of comfortable riding. Lots of monster pickups
bugged about having to wait for bicyclists to pass so they could pull
out of McDonald's. Ugh. We camped in Centralia, the half way point,
with I'd guess 6,000 other riders. Kinda fun festival atmosphere. The
second day's ride was even nicer than the first, with a long section
of leafy recently repaved Rail-to-Trail (which was fine and safe as
long as you obeyed stop signs at the crossings), and until we got to
30 in Portland, fewer sections of narrow-shouldered single-file riding
along highways. A couple nice 35 mph descents made the second day's
climbing worthwhile. Got an unbelievable number of compliments on my
bike, including lots of "How old is that bike?" I tried the "I'm
pretty sure it's an aught-one..." reply a few times. :) Riding into
Portland was phenomenal. The Finish line felt like the end of a stage
of the Tour, with throngs of people cheering and high-fiving us as we
rode into Holladay Park. I rode about 95 miles the first day in 11
hours, and a bit over 105 the next in 11.5 hours. I tell you, it feels
like a real accomplishment. I am BACK as a bicycle rider! :)
What Worked...
- The Saluki was great. The fit and ride make such a difference.
- Gotta say, I love the ErgoPower brifters.
- 26-36-46 chainrings and 12-28 cassette were just fine.
- Berthoud saddle was very comfortable, considering I had about 250
miles on it before I started the ride.
- The Hetres rolled well, and I had no flats. (Saw a LOT of narrow-
tired folk by the wayside. I'm sure I made up the time they raced
ahead on their skinny tires by not having flats....) Had other issues,
see below.
- Hammer Nutrition Perpetuum in addition to real food at the rest
stops worked really well for me.
- The Lil' Loafer I got from Gino served well, along with the Berthoud
786 saddle bag. I'll need something bigger for fall rides where
inclement weather is more of an issue.
... and Didn't.
- The toe clips and straps caused a fair amount of pain over the 200
miles. Though I spaced the left toe clip out by 3/16" or so to account
for foot length difference, the toe clip seriously mashed my big toe.
I will try Speedplay Frogs.
- After I finished, a fellow came up to me and said "Hey, your rear
tire is about to blow out!" Check it out: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/robharrison/4817049422/in/set-72157624011191725/
> Bummer.
- I took the nice-looking Lezeyne pump off before the ride and
switched back to my Zefal HP-X. The hose of the Lezeyne inline gauge
developed a leak the first time I used it to pump up a flat. Fail.
- Despite a pre-ride adjustment/tune-up by Bob Freeman at Elliot Bay
Bicycles (because I thought it was my lack of experience in tuning
that was causing the problems), the Dura Ace front derailleur did not
shift the TA rings well at all. It's just the wrong shape. Required a
lot of trimming. Getting the chain up into the big ring was nigh
impossible. So either the ErgoPower brifters, the DA derailleur or the
crankset (or the FD _and_ the crankset) has to go. Bob says a Super
Record FD will shift the TA rings a lot better. I'll try that first.
I'm not averse to going Sugino XD2 with ramps n' pins though. Not a
purist, that's for sure.
Here are some photos: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/robharrison/sets/72157624553775586/
> (Clearly there is vast room for improvement in my ride
documentation!)
Rob in Seattle
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